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Wordswarms From Years PastAdjacent WordsSpeculatedSpeculating speculation Speculatist Speculative Speculative theology Speculatively Speculativeness Speculator Speculatorial Speculatory Speculist Speculm Speculum metal Sped Speece Speech speech act speech communication speech community speech day speech defect speech disorder speech form speech intelligibility Full-text Search for "speculum" 1716 |
speculum definitions
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)n Merriam Webster'snoun (plural specula; also -lums) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, mirror, from specere Date: 15th century Oxford Reference Dictionaryn. (pl. specula) 1 Surgery an instrument for dilating the cavities of the human body for inspection. 2 a mirror, usu. of polished metal, esp. in a reflecting telescope. 3 Ornithol. a lustrous coloured area on the wing of some birds, esp. ducks. Phrases and idioms: speculum-metal an alloy of copper and tin used as a mirror, esp. in a telescope. Etymology: L, = mirror, f. specere look Webster's 1913 DictionarySpeculum Spec"u*lum, n.; pl. L. Specula, E. Speculum. [L., fr. specere to look, behold. See Spy.] 1. A mirror, or looking-glass; especially, a metal mirror, as in Greek and Roman arch[ae]ology. 2. A reflector of polished metal, especially one used in reflecting telescopes. See Speculum metal, below. 3. (Surg.) An instrument for dilating certain passages of the body, and throwing light within them, thus facilitating examination or surgical operations. 4. (Zo["o]l.) A bright and lustrous patch of color found on the wings of ducks and some other birds. It is usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and is much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female. Speculum metal, a hard, brittle alloy used for making the reflectors of telescopes and other instruments, usually consisting of copper and tin in various proportions, one of the best being that in which there are 126.4 parts of copper to 58.9 parts of tin, with sometimes a small proportion of arsenic, antimony, or zinc added to improve the whiteness. Webster's 1913 DictionarySpeculum Spec"u*lum, n.; pl. L. Specula, E. Speculum. [L., fr. specere to look, behold. See Spy.] 1. A mirror, or looking-glass; especially, a metal mirror, as in Greek and Roman arch[ae]ology. 2. A reflector of polished metal, especially one used in reflecting telescopes. See Speculum metal, below. 3. (Surg.) An instrument for dilating certain passages of the body, and throwing light within them, thus facilitating examination or surgical operations. 4. (Zo["o]l.) A bright and lustrous patch of color found on the wings of ducks and some other birds. It is usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and is much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female. Speculum metal, a hard, brittle alloy used for making the reflectors of telescopes and other instruments, usually consisting of copper and tin in various proportions, one of the best being that in which there are 126.4 parts of copper to 58.9 parts of tin, with sometimes a small proportion of arsenic, antimony, or zinc added to improve the whiteness. Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms
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